Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan are looking into the benefits of keeping babies born in withdrawal from opioids with their mothers in supportive care homes.

Currently, there is one HIV and high-risk pre-and-postnatal care home in Canada for women living with or are at high risk of HIV transmission. That’s Sanctum 1.5 in Saskatoon.

The program offers a holistic approach to care that enables mothers to remain with their infants in a safe and supportive environment.

Lead researcher, Dr. Sithokozilz Maposa says the team of researchers will see if the Sanctum 1.5 approach can be scaled up to serve similar patients across Canada.

Maposa says they have a health economist on their team who will look into the cost benefits of having a home like Sanctum 1.5. She adds keeping babies with their mothers creates a stronger bond.

“The relationship between the mother and the baby becomes stronger and because the relationship is stronger, chances of the mother looking after the baby until they are able to leave the home as a young adult are more stronger.”

The project is one of eight University of Saskatchewan health studies that received from $3.6 million dollars in funding the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.